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Recession? – What recession? Hermes opens their first store – exclusive to Men – on Madison Ave at 62nd Street – and it’s beautiful. Looking for a signature tie – or maybe a custom leather jacket? Select from a range of skins (starting price – $50,000) and the jacket will be yours. Over 4,000 square feet, it’s a warm and intimate place housing everything a man needs – or wants – or desires.

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Bloomingdale’s are betting on a concept of the very best quality in the very best basics – from fast growing ‘hip’ brand Rag & Bone. I just hope Rag & Bone’s easy availability – also at Barney’s, Bergdorf Goodman and Saks 5th Avenue – as well as their own boutiques in the West Village and Soho – doesn’t turn off their current customer base! Although the product varies a little from store to store – we all know that too much of a good thing – is never a good thing!

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Wall Street darling – Aeropostale – opens a flagship on 34th Street between 5th & 6th Avenue. Known for a tight range of the very best tees, sweats and jeans – targeting the Junior customer – Aeropostale has finally opened a store worthy of their New York fans – right on 34th Street – a stone’s throw from Macy’s on Herald Square! One of the most successful Junior retailers, Aeropostale is known for strong key items and promotional pricepoints. They certainly move the merchandise – and are providing tough competition to American Eagle & Abercrombie & Fitch – and I say, good luck to them – as this is a no frills retailer that spells out the deals – loud and clear!

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Hollister – the kid brother/sister to Abercrombie & Fitch – have finally put up the board announcing their imminent arrival on 5th Ave at 53rd Street in the near future. 5th Ave – the perfect tourist zone – will see this store rival Abercrombie & Fitch just up the road on 5th Ave at 55th Street – rumored to do an annual turnover of approx. $100 million per year! Unless they clearly differentiate the offering – cannibalization will impede sales. However, having realized that expansion via major cities in both the US and internationally is the best way forward – expect an A&F store (or Hollister) in a city near you – sometime in the not too distant future. Which leads me to ask – will the tourists still flock to 5th Ave?

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American Eagle’s four-floor, 25,000-square-foot flagship opened today at 1551 Broadway at 46th Street. In addition to a new concept that will blow the minds of any typical American Eagle customer -- the store will have a 25-story inactive LED sign which adds up to 15,000-square-feet of outdoor electronic signage. Anyone who had any doubts of exactly who American Eagle is -- will most certainly have their questions answered? The flagship carries the regular line plus anywhere from 10 percent to 20 percent exclusive product in the hopes of widening their appeal. New to the store is lingerie -- including a range of bras -- and an expanded range of footwear. With any purchase, customers are invited to participate in “15 Seconds of Fame”. You can strike a pose in a mini photo studio and just minutes later your photo will be projected onto the outside of the store -- for all to see! Now that’s certainly makes a visit worthwhile!

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A new Gap 1969 has opened at 528 Broadway on the corner of Spring Street. This 8,000-square-foot store – over 2 floors – is the very first concept that fully focuses on their newly relaunched 1969 denim brand. This certainly points to Gap’s reliance on denim to turn their business around. A fifteen-foot-high, 24-foot-wide glass wall with an 18-foot-high black 1969 decal at the back of the store leaves no doubt of this new focus. Shelves built into this wall carry over 2,500 pairs of jeans and makes a huge impact. As premium ‘designer’ jean sales wane, and basics (even with a fashion twist) make a return – I think the Gap is onto something. This is the very first Gap store in Soho and has been edited with the Soho customer in mind. I feel strongly that the ‘hip’ and ‘urban’ customer is well and truly over $200 jeans!

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On Wednesday, Banana Republic unveiled their new store prototype at 522 Broadway between Prince & Spring Street in Soho. The two level, 18,000-square-foot store offers up a series of ‘rooms’ off a main boulevard – each designed as an idealized wardrobe. The higher priced ‘Monogram’ is placed center front with ‘rooms’ for accessories, city workwear, urban weekendwear, party wear and the vintage inspired ‘Heritage’ Collection. This idea of ‘rooms’ is catching on with Abercrombie & Fitch,
Hollister and American Eagle (new prototype store at Garden State Plaza, NJ) presenting their merchandise in this format. It creates a more intimate feel, a boutique within a store – if you will. And Banana Republic have done a beautiful job which we believe enhances their Collection. The problem as I see it – is that the customer today does not wear Collections today – she wears disparate items culled from a wide range of thoughts, inspirations, moods and feelings. She wants to mix it up and add a touch of her individuality. Banana Republic needs to be less ‘matchy/matchy’, less designed and less serious – Banana Republic needs to go back to it’s roots. This prototype store is a strong ‘new’ beginning!

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